The project 'Val di Pesa and Val Orme as a changing rural landscape: an integrated approach', funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, tries to explore the dynamically changing archaeological landscape within an precisely defined study area in Tuscany/Italy.

Northern inland Etruria is one of the least studied areas in Italy, especially as far as the Roman period is concerned. The FWF funded Vienna Virginio Orme and Pesa Valley Project (VOPP) addresses this situation and covers a microregion defined by the river valleys of Orme, Virginio, and Pesa, between the surroundings of Empoli in the Arno plain and the more mountainous inland territory to the south. VOPP is designed as landscape archaeological project with a consistent methodological framework combined with modelling and clear-cut objectives and research questions.